Sunday, 23 August 2015

It's Caribbean Food Week!*

As many of you know I love trying new recipes and creating foods that are full of flavour. When I was asked to create a Caribbean recipe for Caribbean food week, I couldn't wait to get creative in the kitchen and come up with something tasty. Tastebuds are tingling in anticipation as food-lovers prepare for the week that leads up to the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.

Grace Foods, the UK’s number one supplier of Caribbean food and drink, very kindly provided me with some products to get me started. When I think of Caribbean food I immediately think of Jerk Chicken. I was pleased to receive some Jerk seasoning so I thought this would be perfect to use on some chicken skewers, great for the BBQ served with some side dishes. I got my ingredients together and prepared everything for the below recipes.

For the Jerk Chicken I used chicken thighs which I marinated in the fridge overnight in the Jerk Seasoning and the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix. The next day, I baked these in the oven until they were cooked through whilst I prepared my side dishes. The Jerk Seasoning was very spicy and you don't need too much. If you want to make it less spicy it can be mixed with some natural yoghurt before marinating.

I served this with my take on rice and beans, a traditional Caribbean accompaniment and so easy to make. I mixed my boiled rice with some garlic, a teaspoon of Creole Pepper Sauce, a splash of Coconut Water, Kidney beans, some more of the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix, and a sprinkling of paprika.

I also prepared some vegetables to go with this meal. I skewered onto a kebab stick some red onion, peppers and courgettes which I grilled for 15 minutes until softened. I sprinkled these with some of the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix which was great and worked really well with these vegetables.

No Caribbean meal is complete without a lovely refreshing drink to wash it down. This coconut water is delicious and can be turned into an amazing cocktail with a dash of Malibu and cranberry juice. Serve ice cold to wash down your spicy delicious Caribbean meal.

Overall the Jerk Chicken went really well with the rice and spicy vegetables. The ice cold cocktail washed the meal down a treat and I definitely needed it as the meal was very spicy overall. I loved trying out these foods and getting a taste of the Caribbean, I will definitely be incorporating some of these seasonings and spices into my every day dishes.

For more information on the range of foods used in this post, and for some amazing recipe ideas please visit Grace Foods. To find out more about Caribbean Food Week, please head over to their Twitter @caribbeanfoodwk and Facebook page.

*I was provided with some Caribbean Food from Grace Foods in order to create these recipes. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.